AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That was what had ultimately broken them up — her inability to be honest on a consistent basis. He’d take Kit’s sweet if sometimes brutal honesty over Chloe’s lies and manipulation any day. Honestly, in that moment, he was wondering what he’d ever seen in Chloe. Everything about her paled in comparison to Kit.
“Miss Carlisle, have you ever attended a club named Black Light?” Mr. Park kicked off Chloe’s questioning once the introductions and legal bullshit was out of the way.
“Yes.” Head bobbing, Chloe twisted the chain of her necklace around one finger.
“As you know, Black Light is a very exclusive club. It’s not the kind of place you can simply stumble into. How did you learn about Black Light?”
Austin sat up straighter in his chair, glancing from Park to Chloe, anxious to hear her version of events.
“Austin told me about it, while we were dating.”
That much was true.
“And at that point, did he ask you to accompany him to the club?”
“Yes.”
Nottrue. A growl rumbled in his chest, but at a sharp look from the other lawyer who’d been introduced as Alexander Reed, he swallowed it back.
Park continued, in the same cool, level tone. “What did Mr. Barrick say, exactly?”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “That was like a year ago. How am I supposed to remember?”
Park’s smile was understanding, but not quite sympathetic. “To the best of your memory, Ms. Carlisle.”
“I don’t know. It was something like ‘We should go sometime’, probably.”
“Interesting.” Reed picked up the thread, pulling a piece of paper from a folder. “In your interview, you claimed ‘he would make me go to this underground sex club with him’. So, which is it, Ms. Carlisle? Did he merely suggest that you accompany him, or did he force you?”
The delicate chain around her neck twisted so tightly Austin thought it might break. “Well, at first it was just a suggestion, then he kept pushing it so I just eventually gave in.”
Reed made a soft humming sound in his throat as he jotted down notes. “Did you ever feel threatened by Mr. Barrick?”
Smug triumph flashed in her eyes, but her bottom lip wobbled, perfectly on cue. Maybe she’d have a shot at the acting career she’d been chasing after all. “Several times. He had so many rules, and he would punish me for any little infraction.”
“Specifically with regards to Black Light, Ms. Carlisle. Did you feel, at any time, that Mr. Barrick would cause you harm if you refused to accompany him to the club?”
There was something in Reed’s tone that set Austin’s teeth on edge. Did they really think, for one second, that he’d forced her to go with him? Never in his life had he abused a submissive in his care or forced them to do something that truly terrified them. He wasn’t goddamn Ethen O’Dowell.
Chloe hesitated, long enough for Park to prop his elbows on the table and lean in. “Ms. Carlisle, I’d like to remind you that you are under oath and the consequences for perjury are rather steep.”
Across the table, Chloe shifted in her chair. If she had a submissive bone in her body, it had to be quaking at the moment, facing off with five dominant men. He might have felt sorry for her, if she hadn’t been trying to ruin his life with her lies.
“Ummm. Well, I wasn’t sure how he’d react if I said no, so I just went along with it.”
“Ms. Carlisle, what is your safe word?”
“Red,” she replied automatically, her face flushing as soon as the word left her mouth. She narrowed her eyes at Reed, obviously annoyed at being caught so off guard. “What does that matter?”
“Have you ever used it?” Reed pressed.
“What is the relevance of these questions?” Chloe’s lawyer broke in before she had a chance to respond.
“They are relevant to determining Ms. Carlisle’s understanding of consent with regards to her and Mr. Barrick’s relationship,” Reed answered easily, as if he’d been waiting for the objection.
Chloe’s lawyer leaned over and the two shared a brief, heated discussion before Chloe turned back to face them, her chin tilted high. “Yes. I had to use my safe word twice with Austin.”
“And when you called ‘Red’, did he stop what he was doing?”
